With over 70% of jobs coming from networking, its importance can’t be denied and at the Officers’ Association we encourage people to take the opportunity to network, gain knowledge and build long term connections.
In this webinar Sophia Koniarska, Director of Programmes and Partnerships at The Officers’ Association, will explore the importance of networking, what to expect, how to approach it and the benefits of maintaining a network throughout your career.
Read moreJohn Mayhead served in Iraq in 2005 as a company commander in the Coldstream Guards. In the years that followed, he developed PTSD which led into chronic depression and anxiety. This is his story of illness and eventual recovery, leading to his place in this year’s Walk of America.
Strangely, it wasn’t the obvious trauma that most affected me. The horrors of war – luck separating the unscathed and the maimed, dead friends, wounded children – these are the awful reality of combat but one that my Army training had prepared me for since the day, aged 19, I had joined.
Read moreThe inaugural Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre (FiMT RC) Conference, sponsored by Lord Ashcroft, is being held on 11 October 2018 at Church House in Westminster. The conference will focus on research into veterans and their families from the perspectives of academics, policy makers and service providers, and will cover the processes, challenges, benefits and impact of research, highlighting opportunities for research funding and collaboration during four concise sessions. There will be plenty of scope for networking, questions and discussion. Speakers include Lord Ashcroft PC KCMG, Tobias Ellwood (Minister for Defence Veterans, Reserves and Personnel), Hans Pung (Chair, RAND Europe), Professor Mike Thomas (Vice Chancellor, UCLAN) and Air Vice-Marshal Ray Lock CBE (Chief Executive, Forces in Mind Trust).
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We asking you to pledge your support and to update you on some very positive developments on our quest to eliminate Veterans’ homelessness following our reception at the House of Lords in March.
The University of York research that we launched at the reception highlights how some ex-Service personnel slip through the net and end up homeless after leaving the Armed Forces. Evidence suggests that well over a thousand ex-service personnel each year require urgent support to find accommodation.
On the back of this research we developed a Call to Action to help tackle this important issue.
Read moreEd Tytherleigh, Stoll’s CEO, said: We are proud to be naming the new building Centenary Lodge as we broke ground as part of our own Centenary celebrations, as well as to commemorate the millions of lives lost in the First World War which ended 100 years ago in 1918. Our brand new development will enable some of our most vulnerable individuals who served in the Armed Forces to transition into civilian life effectively. We will provide tailored support to all our residents to ensure they can go on to lead fulfilling and independent lives.”
Read moreApta and Jersey Plants Direct donate plants and pots to The Royal British Legion’s six care homes for residents to enjoy this summer
Residents of The Royal British Legion’s six award-winning care homes, four of which include specialist dementia care wings, have taken delivery of new plants and pots donated by Apta and Jersey Plants Direct, for their enjoyment this summer.
Dunkirk Memorial House in Taunton, Galanos House in Warwickshire, Halsey House in Norfolk, Lister House in Ripon, Mais House in East Sussex, and Maurice House in Kent have all gratefully welcomed the horticultural gifts, which include glazed poppy pots, geraniums, begonias, petunias, and impatiens.
Read moreAnchor Vans, the UK’s biggest commercial vehicle hypermarket, will be supporting dedicated cyclists taking part in the Tour de Troops challenge this summer.
The event, a five-day endurance test that sees participants cycling all the way from Land’s End to John O’ Groats, is taking place in aid of military charity the Felix Fund.
The Felix Fund supports the country’s brave disposal experts, the EOD community and their families.
Official sponsorship for the event comes from L3 TRL Technology, a defence cbersecurity company.
Read moreGive Us Time is delighted to announce that Bridge Leisure has kindly donated 50 breaks to military families in need. The breaks will be throughout the year and at various locations across the UK.
These include near the Moray Firth, Scottish Borders, Yorkshire coast and Cornwall. For more information on these parks and all of their other locations please visit.
The parks have different facilities which go from indoor pools and children’s adventure playgrounds to bars, restaurants and entertainment evenings!
A team of volunteers have completed a bid to live on two life rafts for 24 hours to raise money for a sailing charity.
The team’s task in Falmouth Harbour, Cornwall, started on Friday at 17:00 BST. The fundraising event was held in aid of Turn to Starboard, a charity supporting injured veterans by taking them sailing.
Organisers said volunteers were tasked with writing songs, drawing pictures and modelling dough during the fun challenge, with a support crew judging results.
Read moreA blind veteran from Surrey is currently training to take part in a 22-mile walk along on the Normandy coastline to commemorate the anniversary of D-Day.
Chris Kennedy, 58 and from Guildford, will take part in the event alongside five other blind veterans supported by Blind Veterans UK, the national charity for vision-impaired ex-Service men and women. The challenge will take place on 6 June, the anniversary of the 1944 Allied invasion of occupied France.
Chris says: “As soon as I heard about the event I knew I wanted to take part. I think it’s going to be a unique experience, and I very much believe that sight loss shouldn’t stop me from taking on a challenge.”
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Afghanistan support
In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here
